A New Beginning
by AlexButler
Summary: Severus is sick of is life and wants to do something about it. He'll take drastic measures and travel through time to finally find the happiness that he has so desperately dreamed of.
1. Chapter 1

Severus bit his lip hard, feeling the soft skin split and blood fill his mouth, to try and force himself to stop the flow of tears forming in his eyes. The Marauders had once more humiliated him in front of the entire class before the Professor had shown up. They had taunted him about his mother's illness a little bit, but when that got no rise out of the boy they had turned to his drunken father. Severus still had no idea how they had found out about the man, but by the end of the day the entire school would know that his father was a muggle, and a drunk at that.

Once class was over the Slytherin made his way up to the library. He had been trying for months to work out a way he could get himself out of the life he was currently in. He didn't want to stay here anymore, as much as Hogwarts was his home, he didn't feel safe with the people here or the other Slytherin's.

"Are you okay Severus?" Severus didn't have to look up to know that the person talking to him was Lily Evans. He kept his head down, the scowl on his face not something he wanted his friend to see. "It's nothing Lily. They'll grow sick of it eventually and I'll be left alone."

"So that's why you're looking through a restricted book about potions to make people disappear?" Lily took a seat across from Severus and dragged one of the books towards her. "They certainly look interesting. Do you want to disappear Severus, or do you want Marauders too?" He contemplated lying, saying he was just curious and he didn't actually want to do anything, in the end he decided that was a bad idea. "I want to. I can't stand it here."

Lily gave a sad smile and opened the book to help. They spent the time until dinner reading in silence. Neither of them found anything of use, but they snuck the restricted books out with a couple of clever charms. "Room of Requirement before curfew?" Lily suggested with a small smile. Severus gave a non-verbal agreement and they parted.

* * *

Weeks went by with a similar routine, Severus and Lily would spend their time studying up all the books they could find trying to find some way to make him disappear so that he could actually enjoy his life. It was after their third week of searching that Lily finally found something that looked promising.

"Severus, have a look at this." She pushed the book across the table, pointing to the paragraph that she wanted the black haired teen to read. He cast aside his own book for the time and read the passage with interest. "It's designed to make you look older. You can take the potion and then run away. You could start a new life."

"It wouldn't be enough Lily. Someone could work out that it's me and ruin everything." Severus scanned the ingredients on the potion with a small frown. "Although..." He trailed off and began taking notes quickly. "I might be able to change some of the ingredients and change what it does. Instead of making me older, it will force me into the future. I don't know how far, but it could be far enough that no one remembers me."

"Severus that's dangerous. What if you end up in a time that is more dangerous than this?" Lily pointed out with a frown, "You would need some way of knowing about when you will reappear. If you could get it to be a set number of years, then you could find me and I can look after you."

Severus shook his head and looked away from his friend. "It would put you at risk too Lily. I don't want you hurt because someone possibly recognises me and hurts you for it. Plus, I doubt Potter would look after me, he's harassed me for two years now."

Lily sighed and stood up, grabbing her bag to leave. "I worry sometimes. I hope your new life makes you happy. Just remember you're leaving behind friends." She left the library after that with a small wave. Severus glanced back at his notes with a small frown. Perhaps she was right, but he still had time to think about that while he perfected his plan and the potion.

He made his way back to the common room, the book safely tucked into his bag. He knew it was past curfew so he was trying to be as silent as he could so as not to get caught by staff or prefects. He had just turned the corner to the common room entrance when he felt his stomach drop.

"You're out after curfew again Severus." Regulus grabbed Severus' arm and pulled him into the common room. They settled into comfortable chairs in the corner, hidden from the couple of others still lingering. "What has kept you so busy that you are out after curfew most nights?"

Severus really considered lying to Regulus, like he had with Lily. He didn't want to worry him or have the knowledge accidently shared with the wrong person. He sat in silence and stared in thought, wondering what to say. "I'm trying to disappear. I can't continue living like this."

"You can't do that. You know that he will find you, and so will Dumbledore." Regulus pointed out, "You would have to completely change, and the mark can't be removed. You would never truly escape Severus."

"I found a potion that would alter my age. I think I can change some ingredients and instead of it simply changing my age it will force me into the future." Shrugging a little he spread out on the couch carefully. The two sat in silence for some time while Regulus took in what had been said and thought it all through.

"You should try and add a spell to it that will track the magical signature of a friend, someone who knows what you are doing and will be expecting you. That way you know that you will be in safe hands when you appear whenever you do." Regulus added, looking across to the other Slytherin with a slight grin, "You should also try and take me. I don't think I'd handle things around here without you."

Severus chuckled softly and then stood up, "That isn't a bad idea. I could use someone from my own time with me." He stretched a little, "I'm going to head off to bed. I'll see you in the morning Regulus."

* * *

Severus spent months in secret perfecting what he was planning to do. Occasionally Regulus or Lily would come down and help him with things, but most of the time he spent alone between classes and after curfew.

He still had a few worries about his plan though, the main one being that people would be looking for him, and probably wouldn't stop until they found him, especially if he took Regulus Black with him. Regulus had come up with the solution to their problem with a book he found in his father's library. They would create dopplegangers of themselves, and leave the dopplegangers in their place. Severus had already planned it with Lily that she would have no connection with her future doppleganger so that they didn't get into any trouble.

Finally, nearing the end of May, Severus had completed everything that he needed. He had the potion ready, and the two spells perfected. Regulus was with him again in the classroom that they had found in the dungeons to work, and the two were waiting for Lily to join them so that they could put the plan into action.

Their dopplegangers stood in the corner of the room; they looked identical to the two teens, except there was a dark look in their eyes and a darker magical signature. No one would look too hard, and if they did it wouldn't be such a surprising thing that the two had gone dark.

When Lily came in she stared at the dopplegangers and shuddered slightly, "They aren't you." She said with a slight frown, "They're so dark. It won't be hard to push them away."

Severus stood up and took her hand, "Thank you Lily. I know you are risking a lot to help us. I love you so much." He said and pulled her into a hug, "I know that you'll look after us in the future." Regulus stood up as well and held his hand out, "Thanks Lily. I know we couldn't have done this without your help." He took the red heads hand and shook it gently.

Severus sent the dopplegangers away with imperious and oblivious curses, and clear instructions that they were not to tell anyone that they were dopplegangers.

Lily shook her head, watching the dopplegangers leave the room before she sighed. "Okay, so I need to add my magic to the tracking spell and then you two take the potion together?"

"That's all you need to do. Next time you see us will be in the future." Severus stepped towards her and took her hand, "Thank you Lily. You have no idea what this means to me, to either of us. You're giving us a second chance at a happy life." He kissed her cheek and stepped back again.

Lily gathered herself and smiled softly, before she cast a simple levitating charm at the potion on the table. The glass vial lifted off the table and floated, while Lily's magic seeped into the potion and the tracking spell. "There, now you'll be brought straight to me."

Severus tipped half the potion into a second vial and handed it over to Regulus, "On three." He said, looking to Regulus and then to Lily who had stepped back and was watching with tears growing in her eyes.

Severus counted down to three and the two teens downed the potion together. They lowered the vial from their lips, and for a second Severus thought they had failed, before he felt a pull in his stomach like that of apparition. He took one last look at Lily before he disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

Severus groaned softly when he hit the ground hard, sprawled out on the grass. He was staring up at a clear sky when he heard a thump and a groan from beside him. He rolled over a little to find Regulus laying beside him. "You didn't say it was going to hurt that much." He commented.

Severus chuckled a little and sat up, rubbing the back of his head, "I hardly knew. My potion was experimental at best, and though I was certain it would work I didn't know what it might feel like." Severus stood up and stretched out his muscles, trying to get his stiff muscles to work once more. He and Regulus started looking around the clearing that they were in. "Where is Lily? I hope my tracking spell didn't wear off her or the magic faulty or something." He muttered to himself.

Regulus pointed out something just behind Severus, "There is a house over there. Perhaps she has some powerful wards up and they wouldn't let us actually near her." He stated, "She might have something in her wards that will tell her that someone has breached them."

The two glanced at each other and then shrugged and began walking towards the house that they could see. The closer they got the more they realised that it was more a manor, but still small in comparison. "Did she marry a pureblood or something? Or maybe got a job in the Ministry. This place is not what I expected." Regulus said softly.

They got closer to the house and were almost near the fence that surrounded the yard before they were stopped suddenly, their bodies frozen in an invisible bind. "State your name, purpose, and how you got through my wards." They heard from towards the house, but there was no one standing there. The two looked terrified at each other before Regulus took a deep breath.

"Regulus, and Severus is my friend. We have come looking for Lily." He stopped to think about how to word his next sentence, biting his lip a little bit because he didn't want to tell anyone what they had done if he couldn't trust them. "We used a potion that was connected to Lily's magic. It was to bring us to her." He finally settled on, it was enough information to hopefully keep the man happy but it was vague enough to keep their secret a secret.

They were thrown into silence once more before Severus was forced forward, the gate thrown open before he could hit it. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and felt eyes studying him. "Severus Snape?" The voice finally asked.

"Yes." Severus said, his voice faltering a little bit, "Do you know of me?" A high laugh meets that question before a man appeared out of nowhere on the steps above him, a shimmering cloak held in his hands. "I know of you. My mother wrote of the two of you in her journals." The man said, walking down towards Severus and forcing Regulus beside the other teen. "So you appear now, honestly I thought you were dead with how long it has been. Forty-four years is a long time to travel through."

Severus gaped at the man in front of him, feeling a sense of betrayal that Lily had told someone else about what they had done. He didn't think that she would say anything, she had told them that she would keep it a secret and then take them in as her own children if she was old enough, or claim they were her cousins if not.

"Don't look so hurt, if she hadn't written it down in her journals you would have been worse off than simply thrown on your arses outside the wards." The man said, and then released the spell on the two teens, "Come inside, I'll explain everything to you both." They stared at each other before they followed him into the house.

Severus looked around as he walked through the small manor, curious about the man who was in front of him. If he had worked it out right, then this man was Lily Evans' son, so maybe this was their manor and Lily was simply out for the day and they had been drawn to her magic in the wards instead of her. When they reached a comfortable looking living room they were settled into seats and offered tea. The two accepted, waiting patiently now with cups of steaming tea, for the man to explain what was going on.

"My name is Harry, Lily Evans is my mother." The man finally began to explain, "Her and her husband were both killed by Voldemort. I survived because she protected me, and I had some of her magic already flowing through my core."

"That's why we came to you." Severus said, biting his lip in an attempt to stop the tears from falling down his face at the thought of his best friend being killed by a mad man. "My tracking spell didn't fail, it simply transferred to you because you have her magic."

"Yes, she gave me enough of her magic before she died so that your spell would still work. She was worried what would happen to you if the tracking spell was broken, where you would end up. She gave me her magic and her journal that she had written everything of what had happened down, explaining it all to me. I am glad the two of you turned up after I came of age, it would have been a shock had it happened any earlier." Harry set his cup down and stared at the two boys, Severus in particular, "I must say I wasn't fond of the idea at first. Your doppleganger Severus absolutely hated my guts."

"That would be an effect of the magic. Dopplegangers are every negative aspect of a person with very few of their good traits." Regulus explained, though he had a feeling it was unnecessary. "What of my doppleganger?"

"I never knew him, he died before I was born. Severus yours died in the final battle." Harry chuckled a little, "They died heroes would you believe it. They did have some of your emotions."

Severus looked surprised at that, but he was glad they were dead so that no one could connect them to the dopplegangers. "What is going to happen to us then? Will you look after us or are you going to turn us in?"

"I won't be much fun to be associated with. If I take you in, adopt you both as my sons, you will not be left alone by the public. The night my mother died protecting me from Voldemort I temporarily destroyed him. When I turned seventeen I finished him for good. People still can't leave me alone when I go out. It's why I live out here, near enough to the magical world but still hidden with muggles." Harry explained and then looked to Severus, "This part you might dislike the least Severus. You will become a Potter should I adopt you."

Severus stared, letting the information settle in, the wheels turning over in his head before he finally pieced it all together, "James Potter is your father. Lily married James."


	3. Chapter 3

Harry called for his house elf and asked for tea for the three of them while he gave Severus time to think that through. He knew it would be a little hard for the boy, he had seen memories from both before Severus left for the future and after in the dopplegangers mind in his fifth year, he knew how horrible his father had been. For Severus to find out that Lily had married his tormentor would be a blow.

When the house elf brought back the tea he silently thanked them before sending them on their way again. He gestured for Regulus to help himself before he made tea the way he liked to take it. Their movements must have snapped Severus out of his thoughts because he shook his head slowly and leant forward.

"Was she happy?" He asked seriously, staring into Harry's eyes. Harry smiled softly at the boy, sitting back with his cup and gesturing as well for Severus to make one. "She was happy. She loved James, and believe it or not he grew up when he got married and became a father. He died protecting her and myself."

Severus made his cup of tea with a relieved sigh. "Then I can handle being a Potter." He said, "If you will take us that is?"

"I promised my mother that I would take you in if you did show up. I refuse to go back on that promise." Harry told Severus before he looked over to Regulus as well. "We will need to come up with a story that is believable, and I will have to inform some friends of mine the truth so the story is better believed. If all of my close friends are as surprised as the rest of the world of the sudden appearance of Harry Potter's sons then people will become suspicious."

Severus gave a wide smile and set his tea aside, "Thank you so much." He glanced over to Regulus who looked just as pleased as Severus did. Harry smiled softly while he watched, thinking back on what he knew about the lives the two dopplegangers had lead and what would have been in store for the two boys who were sitting in front of him. He was glad that he could at least help save some people from that life, even if it hadn't been his idea in any capacity.

"So, what year were the two of you in?" Harry asked when the silence had stretched long enough for the boys to take in that they were safe. "I think you should do first year again, you look young enough that no one would question it. A lot of things have changed since you were last in Hogwarts."

"I was in second year, Regulus in first. I don't mind going back and doing first year again." Severus told him, "How would you explain both of us being in the same year?"

"We have to change certain aspects of your life, so your birthdays would be a good place to start. For you both to be in the same year we would simply say that you were born in October and Regulus in August the following year. If anyone questions it, your mother was a very fertile witch." Harry shrugged a little, "I should be able to talk my way out of changing your names, it will make it easier for you both. I never did like to do what everyone expected of me."

Harry had to laugh softly when he saw the relief on their faces, "You don't have to argue with the hat either, if it wants to put you in Slytherin again then let it. You're dopplegangers godson is Head of Slytherin Severus."

"Someone named me their sons godfather?" The boy asked in surprise, he hadn't made any friends in first year and wondered what his doppleganger had done to gain the attention of someone enough to be named godfather. "What was my doppleganger like?"

"He was a right git." Harry said honestly, "But he was the bravest man I have ever known, and in the end I forgave him for everything he did to me."

There was something in Harry's tone that told Severus not to ask any more questions. "When does school start? And how exactly are you going to get us Hogwarts letters?"

"I know the Headmistress." Harry laughed, "I am after all a member of the Board. After the war I was determined to make sure no one like myself, you two or Tom Riddle are never ignored again. She would be more than happy to help me out, I already planned on telling her the truth any way because everyone knows that I am close with her. The new school year starts in three months. So, we have three months to start slowly introducing the two of you to the public." Harry sat forward and put his empty tea cup down, "I don't have any rooms for you, but we can sort all of that out discreetly tomorrow. For now, you can both have a spare room, I have three of them."

The two boys hadn't even realised how late it was when they had arrived in the future. Instead of arguing they set their own cups down and stood to follow Harry. It still felt so surreal to them both, they would have to learn all they could about the war and Harry's role in it so that they didn't blow their story.

"Do we call you father?" Regulus asked suddenly when Harry had shown them the two spare rooms at the end of the hall opposite each other.

"You should, but I don't expect it straight away Regulus. This is all new, and I know the basics of how both of your fathers treated you. I won't force it and I will never be like them." He told the boys before he bid them good night and went to his own room to wrap his head around what had just been thrown into his life this time.


End file.
